Your host gets Internet overload at South By SouthWest Interactive, and gets a lesson in Branded Media and Coupons. <a href="http://www.ftrain.com/wwic.html">Paul Ford</a> explains why the Internet is a customer service medium and TMI's Chris tells us about Operation Persona. For more information visit the WFMU TMI page


Too Much Internet

This program was made in 2003. I got a tour of a place that no longer exists from three Boston legends: Lilli Dennison, James Ryan of the Rat's Hoodoo BBQ, and Mr. Butch(RIP). 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Butch

"Kenmore Square" from Theory of Everything WZBC 2003

This one contains two of my favorite things I have ever made. Sean Cole and I give you the "mastervader" and then I give you a recording of my trip to the Hague in 2001 when I tried to visit Slobodan Milosevic to bring him some books! 

"EVIL" from Theory of Everything 2004 WZBC

Writer Olivia Laing didn’t plan on moving to New York alone, but after a few lonely months in the city she discovered the truth about loneliness. She says it is a gift. Laing wrote an essay on loneliness for Aeon magazine. She is also the author of The Trip to Echo Spring, which is one of the best books of the year — no contest.

Eric Klinenberg says more and more people are choosing to live alone and that cities like New York must invest in housing stock that single people not only can afford but actually want to live in, the type of housing they have in Scandinavian countries. He is a sociologist at New York University and the author of Going Solo, a book about the extraordinary rise and surprising appeal of living alone.

In Denmark when someone dies alone, and no-one claims the body, the authorities put an ad in the newspaper calling for Possible Relatives. This is also the title of a photo-book by Danish photographer Tina Enghoff. She took pictures of some of these apartments after the bodies were removed, often the bodies go undiscovered for weeks. My friend Pejk Malinovski, who is also a Dane (and a radio producer) met up with Tina on a recent trip home to Copenhagen.

When you're lonely, life is very long

New version with 25% more audio diary!  In 1984 your host was twelve years old and like George Orwell’s protagonist Winston Smith, he kept a diary for the citizens of the future. For this special installment of Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything we travel back in time and give this diary a soundtrack. TV commercials, radio spots, movie clips -  all sound from 1984 (the year not the book).  Along with personal memories of making the transition to middle school, the show focuses on four of the most important people of year:  Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson, Steve Jobs and Clara Peller. Find out what totalitarianism really sounds like.
Sponsors: Zady.com + souverain.com

1984 (the year not the book)EXPANDED VERSION

This week we examine the legacy of The Work of Art in the Age of Technological Reproducibility by Walter Benjamin.  Media Theorist and Benjamin scholar (and translator) Thomas Levin explains why this essay resonates today and what Benjamin has to tell us about the utopian power of new media. Also Russell Meyer tells us about the Wu-Tang clan's plan to release a sole copy of their new album and why he has turned to Kickstarter so he can buy it and release it to the world. And your host shares an imaginary story about Hitler and Goebbels encountering Benjamin's essay during their final days in the bunker.

A Better Tomorrow

When I was in Beijing last summer I dropped by the Microsoft research campus to talk with  Dr. Yu Zheng. He studies the air pollution in his city, and the noise pollution in mine. Using algorithms he is able to predict what kinds of noises New Yorkers are most likely to hear in their neighborhoods. His algorithms could one day help city planners curb air pollution and noise or as Christian Sandvig notes they could be used by the GPS apps on our mobile devices to keep us from walking through neighborhoods perceived to have loud people hanging around outside. 

Christian Sandvig studies algorithms which is hard to do, most companies like Facebook and Google don’t make their algorithms public. In a recent study he asked Facebook users to explain how they imagine the Edgerank algorithm works (this is the algorithm that powers Facebook’s news feed). Sandvig discovered that most of his subjects had no idea there even was an algorithm at work. When they learned the truth, it was like a moment out of the Matrix. But none of the participants remained angry for long. Six months later they mostly reported satisfaction with the algorithms that determine what the can and can’t see. Sandvig finds this problematic, because our needs and desires often don’t match with the needs and desires of the companies who build the algorithms. 

“Ada’s algorithm” is the title of James Essinger’s new book. It tells the remarkable story about Ada Lovelace the woman who wrote the first computer program (or as James puts it - Algorithm)  in 1843. He believes Ada’s insights came from her “poetical” scientific brain. Suw Charman-Anderson, the founder of Ada Lovelace day, tells us more about this remarkable woman who was known as the Enchantress of numbers.  

Enchanting by Numbers

Cédric Villani won the prestigious Fields Medal for his work in 2010.  He wrote a book about his experience called Birth of a Theorem: A Mathematical Adventure. It is a book about where ideas come from. There is something spider like about Villani, and I say that not just because of the pins he is famous for always wearing. He knows how to catch ideas, and he wants to teach us how as well. We also talk with Maria Popova about another great Science book: The art of Scientific Investigation. I found this book thanks to the idea catching web that Maria Popova built:   brainpickings.org


An Illumination

"G.S." was one of the first friends I made when I moved to Bozeman, Montana many years ago. The story he told me about how bad karma brought him from Devon, England to the C.U.T. bomb shelters in Gardiner, Montana still haunts me. A few years ago we reconnected and he recounted the whole story for me. Also Astronomer Chris Impey explains how Dark Energy will end it all.

Dark Karma

The financial crisis of September 2008 overshadows one of the most important events in recent New York History: the arrival of Airbnb. And while your host wasn't paying attention back then either, today he is fed up with the commodification of every square inch of the city. But what if the Airbnb economy is also changing the way New York City dreams and makes art? Can it be stopped? Housing Activist Murray Cox gives us a tour of his insideairbnb project, Sociologist Richard Ocejo takes us on a jaunt through Hell Square, and legendary performance artist Penny Arcade shows us around "the big cupcake".

New York After Rent (part 1 of 3)

From Avenue B to Bushwick: Kathy Kirkpatrick tells us about the final days of her Life Cafe in the East Village and essayist Tim Kreider tells us about his exile in Bushwick. Plus your host tries to make sense of the first time he got a glimpse of the new New York at a party in late September 2008.

New York After Rent (part 2 of 3)

This week we celebrate the 50th episode of Too Much Information! Your host decides to clean out his drawers and air all the recordings he hasn't yet used. Peter Choyce explains why some of his problems are first world problems while others are third world problems. Laura Mayer tells us about her history with Weather Problems and Pierre-Louis Colin takes us on the streets of Paris to pass time watching girls. PLUS we hear from two cartoonists: <a href="http://maakies.com/">Tony Millionaire</a> and <a href="http://www.nbmpub.com/comicslit/blain/blainhome.html">Christophe Blain</a> (the oldest recording of the bunch - July 2009). 



Be Thankful For What You've Got

In the sharing economy no one  can hear you work. This is because companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates and others only employ "partners" or independent contractors. So your host decided to partner with Andrew Callaway, a 25 year old San Francisco native, to find out what its like to work in the sharing economy. As the official ToE instapoder Andrew will drive, shop, clean, deliver, and serve for a whole month, and he’s going to record his entire experience.  Plus in this episode technology journalist Sarah Lacey tells us the truth about Uber.
thanks to our new sponsor: Zady.com/theory

Instaserfs (part one of three)

We take another look at algorithms. Tim Hwang explains how Uber's algorithms generate phantom cars and marketplace mirages. And we revisit our conversation with Christian Sandvig who, last year asked Facebook users to explain how they imagine the Edgerank algorithm works (this is the algorithm that powers Facebook’s news feed). Sandvig discovered that most of his subjects had no idea there even was an algorithm at work. Plus  James Essinger and Suw Charman-Anderson, tell us about Ada Lovelace, the woman who wrote the first computer program (or as James puts it – Algorithm)  in 1843.

Enchanting by Numbers (2015 version)

It turns out there are (at least) three ways to tell the secret history of podcasting: it is a story about technology, it is a story about a business model for audio, and it is also a story about the birth of a new art form.  What's really cool is that the whole thing is sort of a Rashomon narrative -  in this special edition to mark the radiotopiaforever campaign your host attempts to tell all three versions using the same people.  Visit radiotopia.fm to join the radiotopiaforever campaign.

Secret Histories of Podcasting

Allen Ginsberg tries his hand at Market Research,  Walter Benjamin goes on the radio and ToE's Chris drops in on a new bar in DC called the Freedom Cock. Radiotopiaforever!

The things we do for money

Your host explores the transition from UFO to Drone on stage as part of Radiotopia Live and pinpoints the date he crossed the digital divide (Feb 21st 1997). Also filmmaker Alix Lambert tells us about a group of people who are still on analog time. 



Special thanks to Elyse Blennerhassett who not only introduced us to both Efren and Adolfo but she is also continuing to work with them on a longer term audio diary project that follows their daily life / experiences, and inner worlds. From their fight for innocence to their interactions, dreams, textures, smells, and memories. Visit her  site comfortofconstellations.space more info.



Analog Time

The secret history of ISIS from ToE’s special corespondent Chris. PLUS Donald Trump is ready for sacrifice. 


The art of the deal

Our new mini-series on Surveillance begins with your host tripping over the corpse of Jeremy Bentham - the man who gave us the Panopticon.

part one of "Still more adventures in Surveillance"

Burning down the Panopticon (still more adventures in surveillance part i)

A spy novel from the 80's gives Donald Trump and his Russian friends some ideas. PLUS your host inspires the youth with cowardice.

The Twentieth Day Of January (still more adventures in surveillance part viii)

Frankie isn't a real Media Influencer but the Government saw the 500k followers he bought for his Instagram profile back in the day and arrested him anyway. Now he's in a Media internment camp. This is PART TWO of a special collaboration with the Truth podcast. Head over there to get part one.

Influencers (part II of II)

A special Halloween week fall treat! We're revisiting a segment from my old podcast Too Much Information. I've always wanted to share it here, but this thing I dreamed about in 2010 (Cthulucon, a gathering dedicated to the writings and memory of the writer HP Lovecraft) actually became a real con! I didn't want my dream to compete with that...  but well dreams are strong and my friend Luc Sante's essay on Lovecraft is still one of the best things ever written about the man.

Cthulhu Con (Revisited)

Our series continues with ToE’s Andrew Callaway reporting from an off the grid fully sustainable little piece of heaven called Earthaven. Plus Will Wilkinson on Libertopia and the limits of Ideal Theory.

Utopia (part ii)

Donald Trump says all his ‘nuclear knowledge’ comes from his favorite uncle John G Trump. According to ToE special correspondent Chris, Uncle Johnny also gave Donald a time machine ring.

Learn all about how John Trump acquired this ring (from Nikola Tesla) and how Vladimir Putin stole it (from Robert Kraft) and what Donald Trump is prepared to do to get it back (nukes).

Time Travelin' Trump

Our search for Utopia takes Andrew far from Mundania to the magickal Den of Iniquity in a pagan community called The Valley of The Dragons. Plus, your host takes a tour of FDR’s New Deal Utopias in search of a future that is possible.

Utopia (part iv)

Our search for Utopia comes to an end at Christiania, an Anarchist haven in the heart of Copenhagen. In 2012 this Utopia went legit, the squatters become property owners. But now they must figure out how to preserve their alternative community, preserve the historical buildings they are now responsible for, and preserve their future. Plus your host loses his utopian tinted glasses during a musical theatre performance of one of his favorite dystopian novels (Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower).

Utopia (part v)

Our New ToE series on the battle between the real and the fake begins with a text alert sent out to everyone in Hawaii on a balmy Saturday morning. We also hear from the man who has written the text alert that will go out to all New Yorkers in the event of a real emergency. Photographer Stan Douglas shows us how to reconstruct a future that makes sense, and your host turns to fellow podcaster Jody Avirgan for advice on how to own the "real-ish" podcast genre. Plus the little boy who cried wolf meets the Emperor with no clothes! Illustration by Jordan Crane and new series logo by Val Dorito.

This Is Not A Drill (False Alarm! part i)

I used to work with Jody Avirgan at WNYC, we were always scheming about a future that involved podcasts. Today he’s the host of the 538 politics podcast (and other ESPN shows like 30 for 30) Ever since the election he’s kind of pioneered this new genre of podcast I call “Live-ish”
Here is his explanation of what he does:

Jody Avirgan on "live-ish" podcasting

The future of face-swapping! The REAL deepfakes speaks! Artist Lynn Hershman Leeson tells us how technology has transformed the way she plays with fact and fiction. Dipayan Ghosh warns us about AI powered ad-targeting. Criminal’s Phoebe and Lauren drop knowledge on the untrue in true crime. Plus your host meets STORMY DANIELS!

Fake Nudes (False Alarm! part ii)

Our investigation of the real and the fake continues as your host hunts for a way to monetize it! We ask Alex Goldmark from Planet Money and Bitchcoin artist Sarah Meyohas for advice and author David Golumbia explains how bitcoin really works. Lyn Jeffrey takes us to China to learn about the multi level marketing craze of the mid 1990s and Jed Rothstein tells us about his new movie The China Hustle. Journalist Zeke Faux explains why scammers love Facebook and Toe’s Andrew Callaway visits Supreme to learn how to get rich off Streetwear. PLUS... the ToE coin!

S*Coin (False Alarm! part iii)

The power of the fake person, multiplied! Curator Karen Patterson puts a fake outsider artist in the museum and artist David Levine puts on a museum show about the fake crowd. We hear from a 1937 radio play that featured both Orson Welles and the first fake crowd ever broadcast on the radio. And backstage on our Radiotopia live tour, your host turns to fellow 'topes Roman Mars and Helen Zaltzman for help deciphering an unexpected laugh.  PLUS!!!! The long awaited return of ToE’s original extra: Peter Choyce.

A Fake in the Crowd (False Alarm! part iv)

Many of us are struggling with the real and the fake - but if you're willing to pay enough, you don't have to worry about it. Your host collaborates with 99% Invisible on a story about the Emeco Navy chair (the real one and the knockoffs).  Artist Sam Stewart introduces us to a creature and his luxuriously useless furniture. Starlee Kine of Mystery Show explains that my real podcasting problem isn't the real vs fake but ads... and it's true, dear listeners, because without more ad money, this might have to let my amazing producer Andrew Callaway go! Unless our new ICO pulls in millions! Learn all about it.

Real costs extra (False Alarm! part v)

A Derecho grounds TMI's Chris in an elevator. <a href="http://dangerousminds.net/comments/war-of-the-worlds-the-rock-opera">Peter Choyce</a> discovers blogging and <a href="http://www.thepaincomics.com/">Tim Kreider</a> discovers what it means to be <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/">"krazy busy."</a> Photographer <a href="http://www.crazyandproud.com/">Lowell Handler</a> teaches homeless mentally ill women how to take pictures. And <a href="https://twitter.com/MargaretAtwood">Margaret Atwood</a> reminds your host that the internet is magic. PLUS Humility. 

We Are In This Together

The Theory of Everything debuts with a three part expedition to the center of the cloud.  In part one Twitter employee number 7 Britt Selvitelle tells us what happened when Justin Bieber joined Twitter in 2009 and how everything had changed by the time the Bieb joined Instagram in 2011.  Harper Reed, CTO for Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, explains why cloud infrastructure is awesome,  Matt Wood, Amazon’s principal data scientist, explains how the cloud is changing our relationship with technology, and Parse’s Charity Majors shows us what it is like to work in the Cloud. But when your host attempts to get inside the cloud itself he runs into difficulties…


The Clouds (1 of 3)

Pictures of Tuff Guys and Old Believers in Siberia courtesy of photographers <a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R1482X4&nm=Bruce%20Gilden">Bruce Gilden</a> and <a href="http://www.ivanboiko.com/">Ivan Boiko</a>. A visit to the world's largest collection of Soviet Nonconformist art in New Jersey! Our man in DC gets another earful regarding the Red Dawn remake, Hitler reads Walter Benjamin and your host finds a photo book on the Bitch War! For more information visit the <a href="http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/37036">WFMU TMi page</a>


Black And White All Over

Your Host travels to Russia! Translator Nurangiz Khodzharova has to babysit a Facebook consultant in Moscow. Sonya S tells us about the life of Andrei Platonov and filmmaker <a href="http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?3907">Alina Rudnitskaya</a> tells us about her film Bitch Academy. Plus "Chris" tells us the truth about how the CIA made "Red Dawn" For more information visit the <a href="http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/36523">WFMU TMi page</a>


Better Dead Than Red

Radio/Podcast host:
"Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything" a proud member of PRX's Radiotopia collective. http://radiotopia.fm 
"Too Much Information" WFMU (2009 - 2013)
"The Big Ideas Podcast" The Guardian UK (2011 - 2012) 

Benjamen Walker

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